"Now having said that, and like anybody who makes a promise, a small 'p' political promise, you've got to live up to these later on and there's always something that can come around the corner and whack you but if the Aquis project proceeds that should be to the advantage of Cairns and to the people of Cairns in terms of economic growth and stimulation," he said.

The council says it has improved its financial position thanks to a restructure and other cost-saving measures.

It has increased its capital works program by about $30 million to $122 million, will spend $200 million on materials and services and is also doubling its funding to Tourism Tropical North Queensland to $2 million.

Cr Manning says there was no need to increase rates by more than 1.5 per cent on average.

"For us our cash flows are very predictable, we also believe that the economic outlook for us is very good but it would be quite improper to take money off the public out there and then stash that away somewhere and not use it," he said.

"In fact, our borrowings over the next few years will be lower than what they otherwise would've been because we're using up some of the money the council's got stashed away in reserves."